Risky Business

By

Stan O'Neal

Updated April 24, 2003 12:01 a.m. ET

Listening to some oracles in Washington and elsewhere these days, you'd think the corporate landscape was populated by a bunch of capitalist outlaws, out to get a buck however they can. Nothing could be further from the truth. Talking to other CEOs, both as colleagues and as clients, the common theme that emerges is their increasing aversion to any kind of risk.

In the atmosphere of cynicism and potential retribution that dominates the business landscape today, CEOs seem to want nothing more than a low profile. They are...